The present invention relates to print layout design and, more particularly, to the design of graphic and text imagery on flag or tab media.
Adhesive-backed note media, such as Post-it(copyright) notes, are widely used in a variety of settings to facilitate communication and organization. Unique adhesives carried by such notes enable convenient repositioning and reuse. Adhesive-backed notes are commercially available in many different configurations. Notes can be ordered, for example, with many selected colors as well as different text and/or graphic designs. Order selection is quite extensive, but nevertheless limited to those designs made available by the notes suppliers. End users have been able to obtain notes with custom configurations from suppliers, but usually only in large quantities. More recently, however, users have been able to take advantage of notes design software and printable note media. Post-it(copyright) Notes Design Software, for example, provides a software application that enables an end user to specify different graphic and/or text objects to be printed on sheets carrying multiple notes. In this manner, an end user is able to design notes on a custom basis to satisfy particular needs or tastes. The graphic and/or text objects can be created by the end user, or obtained from a directory of stock clip art objects provided with the notes design application. The end user can print the notes on demand using an ordinary desktop printer.
Continued usage of adhesive-backed notes has led to a number of variations and extensions. Adhesive-backed flags, such as Post-it(copyright) flags, for example, have been available for several years. Such flags are commercially available in several sizes and colors and, in some cases, carry text and/or graphic imagery such as numbers, letters, arrows, and the like. Post-it(copyright) flags have been used for many applications including page-marking, place-marking, and indexing. Incorporation of unique indicia such as text and/or graphic imagery can enhance the communicative and organizational aspects of the marking or indexing function. Some flags are specially configured for manual marking by pen or pencil. However, end users have been unable to custom-design flags in a professional looking manner. In particular, a software application appropriate for custom design of graphic and text objects on flags has been unavailable. At the same time, printable sheets of flags have been generally unavailable to end users. Consequently, aside from manually markable flags, user selection of flag media has been limited to those configurations made available by suppliers.
Continued research has led to a recent extension of Post-it(copyright) flag technology that enables end users to conveniently print flags with desired text and/or graphic objects. In particular, flags are arranged in pairs and positioned end-to-end on a carrier sheet. The carrier sheet is fed into a printer to print objects on the flags. Each flag includes an adhesive-bearing portion. For manufacturing reasons, the adhesive-bearing portions of the flags in each pair are arranged adjacent one another on a carrier sheet. The image-bearing portions, however, extend away from one another in opposite directions. With this arrangement, the image-bearing portions of the first and second flags are effectively inverted relative to one another. The inversion can be vertical or horizontal. If the inversion is vertical, the image-bearing portions are upside-down relative to one another. In use, the flags ordinarily are used with the same orientation. Accordingly, it is desirable that text and/or graphic objects printed on the flags also occupy the same orientation. To produce text and/or graphic objects with the same orientation in end use, the objects in the flags must be designed and printed with different orientations. In this manner, the objects are designed and printed to compensate for the manufacturing-induced orientations of the flags on the carrier sheet.
Another recent extension of Post-it(copyright) flag technology involves the adaptation of flag media for use as foldable index tabs. The tab is foldable about a line that separates first and second fold sections. Several tabs can be carried on a single print sheet for custom design and printing. When carried on the print sheet, the first and second fold sections of each tab lie flat and face in the same direction, i.e., outward from the print sheet. Upon removal from the print sheet, however, the tab is folded such that the first and second fold sections face away from one another. The inner sides of the tab may carry adhesive material that facilitates adhesive attachment of the tab to opposite sides of a sheet-like element such as a file folder or divider. Upon attachment, each of the first and second fold sections is visible from a different side of the sheet-like element.
In the folded position, it is desirable that text and/or graphic objects printed in the fold sections of the tab occupy the same orientation. Specifically, the text and/or graphic objects should have the same orientation when viewed from each side of the sheet-like element to which the tab is attached. In the flat position on the print sheet, however, the fold sections are inverted relative to one another. The inversion can be vertical or horizontal depending on the arrangement of the print sheet. If the inversion is vertical, the fold sections are upside-down relative to one another when the tab occupies a flat, i.e., unfolded, position. To produce text and/or graphic objects with the same orientation in the folded position, the objects in the fold sections of the tab must be designed and printed in the flat position with different orientations.
The present invention is directed to the design of text and/or graphic imagery on printed articles such as flag or tab media. In particular, the present invention is directed to the design of flag or tab media that require design and printing of at least some of the text and/or graphic imagery with different orientations. The present invention can be implemented by a software application program executed in a general purpose computing system. The present invention is embodied in a design method implemented via the application program, and also in an article of manufacture, in the form of a data storage medium, that stores application program code arranged to carry out that method upon execution by a processor.
The flag media designed in accordance with the present invention may take the form of conventional Post-it(copyright) flags. The tab media represent an extension of the flag media, and may take the form of foldable index tabs. The flag or tab media are carried by a print sheet that is fed into a desktop printer. The flag or tab media can be adhesive-backed for attachment to sheet-like elements such as sheets of paper, file folders, dividers, and the like. The tab media, as an alternative, can be sized for insertion into tab holders or sleeves carried with file folders and need not carry an adhesive. Also, the tab media can be carried on a carrier sheet by adhesive attachment. Alternatively, the tab media can be defined by perforations in a carrier sheet and thereby form an integral part of the print sheet. In this case, the tab media conforms substantially to conventional perforated tab sheets.
The flag or tab media are useful in marking and indexing applications. The incorporation of particular text and/or graphic objects on the flag or tab media can enhance the desired communicative and organizational effects of the flag or tab media, conveying information indicative of order, sequence, or identification. The arrangement of the flag or tab media on the print sheet necessitates design and printing of the objects in particular areas with different orientations. Specifically, one object must be printed with a xe2x80x9cflipped,xe2x80x9d i.e., xe2x80x9cupside-down,xe2x80x9d orientation in which the object is effectively rotated approximately 180 degrees for printing onto the inverted area. The rotation of the object can be made about a midpoint of the media such that the object is effectively mapped into the inverted area with an upside-down orientation. With this mode of design and printing, the objects thereby occupy an appropriate orientation in both sections during use of the flag or tab media.
The present invention is implemented by a software application that enables the end user to specify text and/or graphic objects to be printed on the article without worrying about the necessary flipping functions. The software application automates such functions, and incorporates them into the workflow of the design process. Consequently, the present invention eliminates the need to refeed print sheets in an inverted orientation for inverted printing. Also, the present invention eliminates the need to visually identify objects that require inversion during the design process, and then manually enter invert commands relative to such objects. Instead, objects entered in particular areas are automatically xe2x80x9cflippedxe2x80x9d to facilitate viewing during end use. In particular, an object is subjected to geometric operations that effectively rotate the object approximately 180 degrees for printing onto the inverted area of the flag or tab media. This rotation can be made about a midpoint between the first and second portions in the event the object is entered into the first portion, and a representation of the object with an upside-down orientation is desired within the second portion. In one embodiment, an object entered by a user is automatically entered in first and second portions of the article with normal and flipped orientations, respectively. In another embodiment, an object entered in a particular area requiring inverted printing is automatically flipped.
In a first embodiment, the present invention provides a method for producing a printed article having first and second portions, the method comprising displaying a representation of the article on a display device, receiving user input specifying an object to be formed within the article, displaying the object with a first orientation within the first portion of the displayed article, and displaying the object with a second orientation within the second portion of the displayed article, wherein the second orientation is different from the first orientation. The article may comprise a pair of flags or a foldable index tab.
In a second embodiment, the present invention provides a method for producing a printed article having first and second portions, the method comprising displaying a representation of the article on a display device, receiving user input specifying an object to be formed within the article and a position of the object, displaying the object with a first orientation within the first portion of the displayed article in the event the position of the object is within the first portion of the displayed article, and displaying the object with a second orientation within the second portion of the displayed article in the event the position of the object is within the second portion of the displayed article, wherein the second orientation is different from the first orientation. The article may comprise a pair of flags or a foldable index tab.
In a third embodiment, the present invention provides a computer readable medium encoded with a computer program, the program being arranged such that, when the program is executed, a representation of a printed article having first and second portions is displayed on a display device, user input is received specifying an object to be formed within the article, the object is displayed with a first orientation within the first portion of the displayed article, and the object is displayed with a second orientation within the second portion of the displayed article, wherein the second orientation is different from the first orientation. The article may comprise a pair of flags or a foldable index tab.
In a fourth embodiment, the present invention provides a computer readable medium encoded with a computer program, the program being arranged such that, when the program is executed a representation of the article is displayed on a display device, user input is received specifying an object to be formed within the article and a position of the object, the object is displayed with a first orientation within the first portion of the displayed article in the event the position of the object is within the first portion of the displayed article, and the object is displayed with a second orientation within the second portion of the displayed article in the event the position of the object is within the second portion of the displayed article, wherein the second orientation is different from the first orientation. The printed article may comprise a pair of flags or a foldable index tab.
In a fifth embodiment, the present invention provides a method for producing a foldable tab having first and second fold sections and an adhesive material, whereby the tab is foldable for adhesive attachment to opposite sides of a sheet-like member such that each of the first and second fold sections is visible from a different side of the sheet-like member, the method comprising displaying a representation of the tab on a display device, receiving user input specifying an object to be formed within the tab, displaying the object with a first orientation within the first fold section of the displayed tab, displaying the object with a second orientation within the second section of the displayed tab, and driving a printing device to form a printed tab that substantially conforms to the displayed tab, wherein the second orientation is different from the first orientation.
In a sixth embodiment, the present invention provides a method for producing a pair of first and second flags, the second flag being arranged with an inverse orientation relative to the first flag, and each of the first and second flags including an adhesive material, whereby the flags are configured for adhesive attachment to a sheet-like element, the method comprising displaying a representation of the first and second flags on a display device, receiving user input specifying an object to be formed within the first and second flags, displaying the object with a first orientation within the first flag, displaying the object with a second orientation within the second flag, wherein the second orientation is different from the first orientation, and driving a printing device to form a first printed flag that substantially conforms to the first displayed flag, and a second printed flag that substantially conforms to the second displayed flag.
In a seventh embodiment, the present invention provides a method for producing a foldable tab having first and second fold sections and an adhesive material, whereby the tab is foldable for adhesive attachment to opposite sides of a sheet-like member such that each of the first and second fold sections is visible from a different side of the sheet-like member, the method comprising displaying a representation of the tab on a display device, receiving user input specifying an object to be formed within the tab and a position of the object, displaying the object with a first orientation within the first section of the displayed tab in the event the position of the object is within the first section of the displayed tab, displaying the object with a second orientation within the second section of the displayed tab in the event the position of the object is within the second section of the displayed tab, wherein the second orientation is different from the first orientation, and driving a printing device to form a printed tab that substantially conforms to the displayed tab.
In an eighth embodiment, the present invention provides a method for producing a pair of first and second flags, the second flag being arranged with an inverse orientation relative to the first flag, and each of the first and second flags including an adhesive material, whereby the flags are configured for adhesive attachment to a sheet-like element, the method comprising displaying a representation of the first and second flags on a display device, receiving user input specifying an object to be formed within the first and second flags and a position of the object, displaying the object with a first orientation within the first flag in the event the position of the object is within the first flag, displaying the object with a second orientation within the second flag in the event the position of the object is within the second flag, wherein the second orientation is different from the first orientation, and driving a printing device to form a first printed flag that substantially conforms to the first displayed flag and a second printed flag that substantially conforms to the second displayed flag.
In a ninth embodiment, the present invention provides a method for printing N objects indicative of a sequence 1xe2x88x92N on differently color media having m different colors and carried on print sheets, wherein m is less than N, and each of the color media sharing a common one of the colors is carried on a common one of the print sheets, the method comprising printing a first one of the objects on one of the media on a first one of the print sheets corresponding to a first one of the colors, printing a second one of the objects on one of the media on a second one of the print sheets corresponding to a second one of the colors, and printing an (m+1)th one of the objects on one of the media on the first one of the print sheets, wherein both the first and (m+1)th objects are printed prior to printing the second object.
The details of one or more embodiments of the invention are set forth in the accompanying drawings and the description below. Other features, objects, and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the description and drawings, and from the claims.